ALEC has learned to mislead the press very well when it comes to the issue of transparency.
Unfortunately for the reader - the press writes what ALEC says - doesn't check to see if it is true - so the press feeds the public lies.

After “taking it on the chin” for a few years, ALEC is making an effort to be more transparent, said state Senate Republican Caucus
Chairman Bill Ketron of Murfreesboro.

Bull crapALEC only makes transparent - what ALEC wants the public to see.ALEC intentionally distorts its policy and mission - by only publicizing what they want others to believe.Everything of importance for the public to know is still secret at ALECJust a couple of examples of how ALEC is less transparent now - then it was before.

The NEW supposedly more transparent agenda doesn't show which corporation is sponsoring the bill doesn't show which corporate representatives are doing all those presentations

HIDING information

And then there is this agenda.The International Relations TaskforceCorporations and lowly STATE legislators meeting with foreign nationals outside the purview of our state department. AND writing legislation that affects the US.

The NEW supposedly more transparent agenda doesn't show who is the Private Sector (Corporate) Chair of the Taskforce doesn't show which corporation/foreign national is doing the presentations doesn't show who is sponsoring the bill -evidently the corporate lawyers haven't hooked up with a legislator yet to intro the bill and that is important - as demonstrated here:

If Meierling wants to talk about the past, explain this. How is it that
ALEC is owning up to its secretive "past," when the group published full task force membership lists and the text of all model legislation until 1995?

Important Caveat for the Future

The 2011 agendas shown above were on the Common Cause webpage - Common Cause has recently dropped these documents from their webpage.

This is a shame.

Now that historical information that proves - beyond a reasonable doubt - how ALEC REALLY operates, behind closed doors, is no longer available to the general public - who needs to know this information and see this information.

Thursday, June 26, 2014

They are - of course - a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council ( ALEC ).

Unfortunately I have to use them

unless I am willing to accept 1.5 Mbps that CenturlyLink offers - my only other option.

So - Comcast reigns supreme

Comcast screws their customers every day in every way - becausetheycan

And the FCC does nothing

This whole issue, the Comcast HotSpot, infuriates me.

I bought my own modem – so Comcast can’t make obscene
profits off me to “rent” their modem.

I bought my own modem – to ensure Comcast would not use
my house to increase their market share, with the Comcast HotSpot.

Imagine this:

A pedophile sitting in a car right outside your house watching porn - using a wifi connection you are providing.

A prostitute sitting in a car right outside your house connecting with clients - using a wifi connection you are providing.

A drug dealer sitting in a car right outside your house connecting with clients - using a wifi connection you are providing.

While the IP address of the public service will be
different from that of the hosting customer, the physical address of both will
be the same.

Cops, lotsa cops - with guns -at your address

for something you did not do

GUILTY! until proven innocent

- that's how the justice system works in the US, now

GO TO JAIL faster than you can imagine

for something you did not do.

That’s it for my original thought.

The rest of this is snips from across the web – source
links at the bottom.

Comcast is quietly turning on public hotspots in its
customers’ routers, essentially turning private homes into public hotspots.

Comcast has been swapping out customers' old routers with
new ones capable of doubling as public hotspots.

noticed a new Wi-Fi network popping up on his home
computer.

“Suddenly there's
this service that says XFINITY Wi-Fi.

coming from the Comcast router inside his hall closet.

Comcast's new X-Finity Home WiFi Hotspots will add a
second separate and distinct signal to your home modem.One is yours…The second will be for your guests

"The lack of consumer choice is disrespectful,"
wrote Kelly Morgan, vice president and general manager for Frontier, in a blog
post. "Rather than allowing customers to opt into opening their homes to
becoming hotspots, they are unilaterally making homes into hotspots and forcing
customers to figure out how to opt out of this sharing if they don't want to be
a commercial hub for Comcast."

Comcast basically said

"You know, we aren't even going to ask you if you
want this, you'll just take the feature. Saves us from having to explain it to
you."

“This is actually an opt-out, not an opt-in. So they'll
actually send this command to your router to enable this public Wi-Fi hotspot
in your house and hope you don't object to it," he said.

"From a security standpoint, it just adds another
access point for a hacker or bad guy to get into your system," CPR Tools
CEO John Benkert told WINK News.

Comcast gets a fairly cheap way to extend its network—by
having its customers pay for the equipment!

Comcast representative told me the company expects to
have 8 million customers with the public access feature enabled by year end.

in 19 of the largest U.S. cities.

Another concern should be that in an attempt to grow
Comcast’s customer base, the public service will allow two free one-hour
sessions per MAC address per month to non-subscribers.

you can buy or "rent' a wireless router from
Comcast. I suggest you buy one from a store instead of renting one.

If comcast wants to use my router to provide service to
others, then they can bloody-well pay me for that service I am providing.

If they are going to use the modem that they're renting
to me to provide service to others, then they ought to reduce my rent.

LEGAL ISSUES FOR YOU

While the IP address of the public service will be
different from that of the hosting customer, the physical address of both will
be the same.

Comcast is essentially using your private residence as a
corporate resource.

As many as five people at a time can use your personal
hotspot;

There have been reports that you must re opt-out every
time your router receives a 'refresh' signal.

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Right-wing rag bitching about the costs of an open
records request – but that’s not the focus of this entry.

The focus here is about ALEC transparency – or lack
thereof.

ALEC has been screaming how transparent they have become -
which is an outright lie when you compare current meeting documents to older meeting
documents or review their webpage for specific ALEC bills

YET – when a left leaning legislator makes ALEC meetings
transparent by reporting on the meetings to left-leaning publications

the right goes
nuts

ALEC goes nuts

and the intimidation starts

The right-wing and
ALEC don’t want transparency of the mechanismsof ALEC and this is proof.

The right-wing never ceases to amaze me with their
stupidity – their incredulous beliefof
equivalency in what they do and why they do it.

Most people aren’t aware that back in the day, way back,
Republicans did the same thing to a Wisconsin University professor when he
dared – yes dared – to start talking about ALEC.The Republicans filed an open record request
against William Cronin because he had the audacity to start exposing ALEC – way
before ALECExposed existed.

Payback is a bitch – you libtards filed open record
requests against ALEC members – why can’t we intimidate people who are exposing
ALEC?

What these right-wingers are too muddle-headed to
understand is that there is no there, there.

Open records requests against someone reporting to the
press, about a meeting they attended as part of their legislative duties – what
ALEC desperately tries keeps secret – has no feet.

When CMD requested open requests on ALECer Vukmir in WI
and ALECer Rep. Stephanie Klick of TX, the open records requests were to reveal the secret
mechanisms of ALEC, the extent that ALEC was going to keep their documents
secret to the public.These were open records
requests to make public – what should have been public –the manipulation of our
state legislatures by ALEC.

Some might say – well that’s what the right-wingers are
doing now – trying to expose records that are secret to the public – BUT that's a spurious argument.

Open records requests to expose secret ALEC documents that
intentionally impact the governing of our country are not comparable to open records requests for records
of a legislator exposing ALEC meetings in a magazine article - about content they learned at an ALEC meeting they attended, as part of their legislative duties

Chris Taylor has never hid her relationship with The Progressive – she published her reports on the content of ALEC meetings there, twice.There’s no there, there.Yes there might be emails between Taylor and
various left leaning organizations – but so what, she’s a liberal.Really, so what? What difference does it make that Ms. Taylor
is reporting about the content of ALEC meetings and working with left-leaning organizations to
do so? It's historically evident that the right-wing does not report about the content of ALEC meetings - that is how ALEC has stayed under the radar of the public for 40 years.

What is the right-wing media trying to do – silence Taylor
for ALEC?

What is the right-wing media trying to do – intimidate Taylor
for ALEC?

What is the right-wing media trying to do – and who asked/paid them to do it?

The intentional secrecy of ALEC is destroyed when an
attendee reports on the “closed door meetings” of ALEC. The content of those meetings should be public domain and Taylor has made bits and pieces of what she saw/heard public and ALEC is pissed.

How dare someone report what is happening at an ALEC
meeting! How dare they! ALEC meetings are designed to be secret so the public does not know the evil ALEC is cooking up.

This is Exactly why ALEC will not allow citizen journalists
or even left leaning journalists into their meetings.

ALEC knows what is happening at their meetings is WRONG.

ALEC legislators know what they are doing at ALEC meetings
is WRONG.

ALEC and ALEC legislators know what they are saying at
ALEC meetings is WRONG.

ALEC and ALEC members do not want what they do at
meetings reported – cause they know it is WRONG.

Monday, June 9, 2014

Corporate people who live
insulated from the masses should be careful when they throw stones at
ALEC--the stones can bounce back and bite them in the ass. There is a certain level of hypocrisy that the public will not accept - even from non-profit corporations. Non-profit corporations can't spend their time throwing stones at ALEC to increase their funding, but then turn around and partner with ALEC when it suits their fancy. Non-profit corporations can't spend their time throwing stones at ALEC to increase their funding, at the same time that they are supporting various ALEC policies.

During my time as a blogger, diarist and tweeter – I have
found that most people want to ignore posts like these, not share them with
others.

NOT because the entry is untrue – but because people don’t
want to believe it is true.

Entries like these are a conundrum for people because it makes people think about

what they want to know

vs

what they don't want to know.Entries like this produce cognitive dissonance for readers - because what they have been trained to believe, want to believe, is put into question - - kinda when you learn for the first time that Santa Claus is not real.

Potential conflicts of interests are exposed and there is definitely a disturbing juxtaposition between listen to what we say, not what we do People will want to say no, please don't tell me this is true.

But it is true and it is sourced.

#VoteNo2ALEC

Today is one of those days where my brain is screaming.

If WE THE PEOPLE don’t eliminate ALEC while we are standing in
the voting booth – we may as well just accept the fact that our “representative
government” is gone.

#VoteNo2ALEC

Why would I say that?

Because, as long as ALEC controls legislation that is being
introduced at the state and federal level – nothing can be done to stop them –

unless

WE THE PEOPLE remove ALEC members from office so that ALEC
has no control over legislation.

Let’s look at a couple of examples that I hope will wake the
people up – and show them that it is the responsibility of WE THE PEOPLE to
stop ALEC – not other entities.

Why? because the ACLU
recognizes the power that ALEC has to distribute legislation across the United States.

The ACLU could have chosen a different method to work
through these issues – but they chose to partner with ALEC to have access to
ALEC legislators.

CUNA - Credit Union
National Association

Remember years ago when we hated the big banks – many that
belong to ALEC – and we “moved our money”?
Well shortly after that CUNA joined ALEC.

CUNA doesn’t just attend ALEC meetings to be an exhibitor –
CUNA sits on an ALEC Commerce, Insurance, & Economic Development Task
Force.

CUNA could have chosen a different method to work through
legislative issues affecting its industry – but they chose to partner with ALECto have access to ALEC legislators.

NAACP - FLORIDAThe NAACP of North Carolina has been a major leader in the publicizing of the injustices of the ALEC-run state of North Carolina. NC Moral Mondays have become as much a part of the cry against injustice, as were the demonstrations in Wisconsin when ALECer Scott Walker started his destructive rule of that state.But, when you look at the NAACP of Florida, you see a different story, a more disturbing story out of Florida, in regards to the re-districting issue in Florida - which by the way IS an ALEC issue. The article notes that the Florida NAACP has chosen not to fight for equality for voters, but has sided with the Florida legislature on re-districting and basically said , hey people should just be happy they get to vote - so what if the district is gerrymandered.

To top it off – it didn’t stop there. The IFT – a division of the AFT, which
supposedly is anti-ALEC organization – not only threw their support behind
ALECer Kirk Dillard but gave him a six figure donation in support. IFT supposedly represents the teachers in the
City of Chicago
– who have been decimated by ALEC-esque city legislation, killing their
schools.

IEA and IFT could have chosen a different method to work
through upcoming elections and legislative issues affecting its industry – but
they chose to financially support an ALEC legislator.

These examples are no different – absolutely no
different, than Google joining ALECspecifically to get legislation passed for
their new cars. Google saw ALEC as a way
for their organization/corporation to benefit from ALEC legislation and the end
result is they join/supported ALEC – for their own selfish profit-driven reasons.

What these examples demonstrate is - - taking the easy way out, being lazy.Rather than using the systems that these organizations have in place to attack the issues - they do what corporate America does - they deflect/defect to ALEC --- because its easier. NOT because it is correct, but it is easier.By partnering/providing support with/to ALEC the examples above give credence to the ALEC model – credence ALEC DOES NOT deserve
to have.

Now on to the UFT and AFT

United Federation of Teachers

American Federation of Teachers

The national office of AFT supposedly rails against ALEC in
public, against ALEC policies. But –
there’s a glitch.

Randi Weingarten is the mouthpiece for the AFT against ALEC
educational policies.

In fact, in 2009– Weingarten, then UFT President, partnered
with a “corporate influenced charter school” in NY, the Green Dot “Public”
Schools to establish a charter school in NY City

Green Dot “Public” Schools is a nonprofit – that
intentionally shifts taxpayer dollars from our public schools to charter
schools. But evidently that’s okay – as
long as the charter school is unionized and you advertise your charter school
as “progressive”.

That is why the UFT has opposed the funding freeze on
charter schools in the state budget and has fought to lift it. And why we have
called for eliminating the two-year lag in charter schools’ funding formula and
proposed that charter schools whose educators participate in the Teachers’
Retirement System should be allowed to take that cost off their books and have
the local school district assume it.

One of the ALEC educational policies is the expansion of
charter schools - but evidently, if the charter school is unionized – that makes them a
better charter school.Yet, all the while, it is a top ALEC objective to
destroy all unions, starting with those in public service.

WE THE PEOPLE are the only entities that are not corporations. We must fight this battle for ourselves and keep the organizations that supposedly represent us and seek our funding - representative of us.WE THE PEOPLE can no longer sit back and assume that organizations that purport to serve the people, actually serve the people - these organizations must be monitored and when we see them take actions that do not correspond to the mission they state, we must protest their actions.WE THE PEOPLE can not expect others to do our work for us in
regards to the elimination of ALEC legislative/policy power in the state and
federal government.

WE THE PEOPLE are not corporations focused on self-centered
sustainability, at any cost.

WE THE PEOPLE must be responsible to take our government
back from the ALECers, by our words and by our actions.

#VoteNo2ALEC

The American Legislative Exchange Council exists only to provide legislative services to organizations (profit
and non-profit); through intentional manipulation of state legislation by ALEC
legislators, for the sole purpose to benefit ALEC corporate members.

Because of this, these same corporations can not be trusted
to act on behalf of WE THE PEOPLE – because the organization’s long-term
survival – using ALEC legislators to pass ALEC legislation that favors the
organization –is more important to their survival in the long-term, than WE THE
PEOPLE.

Non-profits can be just as selfish, self centered and inwardly
focused – as the for-profit corporations that tweeters and bloggers vilify for
their involvement with ALEC.

Unless WE THE PEOPLE, wake up and realize that the only way
that ALEC can be truly be stopped is for WE THE PEOPLE to vote ALEC members out
of office – I don’t see much success in stopping ALEC legislation from further corrupting our nation.

You can’t sit at your keyboard from now until November and
hope & pray things will change.YOU
have to take action between now and November to educate your friends and family about ALEC and to encourage all to vote ALEC members out of office. If you don’t – nothing will change – it will
only get worse, with more and more organizations who say they speak for the people, turning to ALEC for the easy way of getting what they want, for just a fist full of a few dollars more.

ALEC is one of the most powerful political forces
influencing our nation,